Using agile to push a model based on servant leadership, Spotify is proving that hierarchical organization is a thing of the past
Goodbye, hierarchical organization! Embracing servant leadership and a flat structure, Spotify is redefining the idea of a company. Interviewee: Kristian Lindwall, agile coach, Spotify.
IF YOU PREFER TO READ, EXCERPTS FROM THE INTERVIEW ARE BELOW
Planet Lean: In the face of very rapid growth, how has Spotify remained competitive?
Kristian Lindwall: I think the main success factor is that, from the very beginning, we had a lean and agile mindset. It is built into the culture: people really believe in servant leadership and in supporting team members in making decisions.
PL: People have been talking about the “Spotify model” – what is the company's approach to leadership?
KL: What we try to do is counter what happens in a hierarchical organization by creating a lateral structure. No leader will have full influence over the team. On the other hand, for this to work, we need to create leadership teams that support the squads, as we like to call them.
PL: Can you explain what a minimum viable structure is?
KL: If we could, we would just have 600 people who would magically know what to do. We would have no leaders or structure, but the world is very chaotic. To reduce complexity, we introduced this model for organizing the business. When bureaucracy creeps in, we try to get rid of it.
PL: Some of Spotify's agile coaches have created a very original approach to visual management, which they call the “squad roadmap” – what is it?
KL: This tool was implemented in one of the tribes. Even in agile, it is always important to have some kind of perspective on the horizon, so we created a fun way of doing roadmaps – but we do not have a codified way of doing them across all of Spotify.
PL: In an organization that is not very hierarchical, how does corporate strategy connect with the work of individual squads?
KL: Currently, we obviously have a high-level vision of where we want to go as a company, as envisioned by senior management. This strategy needs to be aligned with the ideas that exist in the squads. In between, there are many different conversations that create space for discussions in the leadership team, which, in turn, will create space for discussions in the squads.
To really reinforce innovation and make sure we have moments in which we generate new ideas, we have Hack Weeks at least twice a year. The whole company gets together, there is no plan… we just throw out ideas and work on them. From these weeks we have gotten some great ideas that were then passed on to production.
Kristian spoke at last year's Lean IT Summit in Paris. To access the event's presentations, click here (in English).
Source: Lean Enterprise Institute.
